Louis Mandylor

Louis Mandylor is an Australian actor, director, and former athlete best known to broad audiences for playing Nick Portokalos in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise. He was born Elias Theodosopoulos in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1966, the son of Greek immigrants, and is the brother of actor Costas Mandylor. Before acting became his primary career, Mandylor played football in Australia, including with Heidelberg United, and also boxed in Melbourne. He later moved to the United States, first with athletic ambitions and then with increasing focus on screen work.

Mandylor began appearing in film and television in the early 1990s. His early credits included Necessary Roughness, Life 101, The Quest, and a variety of action, crime, and independent productions. On television, he became familiar through guest roles and recurring parts, including Martial Law, where he played Louis Malone opposite Sammo Hung. He also appeared in Friends in the episode “The One with Unagi,” playing a man who pretends to be Joey Tribbiani's twin, a comic guest spot tied to the show's long-running jokes about performance and identity.

His most recognizable role is Nick Portokalos, brother of Toula Portokalos, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The 2002 film became an unexpected box-office phenomenon and turned its ensemble of Greek American family characters into a durable franchise. Mandylor reprised Nick in the television spinoff My Big Fat Greek Life and in the sequels My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. The role drew on his Greek Australian background while placing him inside a comedy series built around family loyalty, cultural specificity, and affectionate exaggeration.